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Second Lafayette Jax store cleans up city's big box vacancies

Ranch store slated to open in former Flatirons church site by Thanksgiving

By Doug Pike Colorado Hometown Weekly

Posted:
09/03/2012 03:00:00 PM MDT

Employee Jim Gilbertz, left, helps Barb VanZuiden try on a pair of shoes on Friday at Jax Outdoor Gear in Lafayette. The retailer is opening a second store in Lafayette this fall, just two blocks from its current location. (Jeremy Papasso / Daily Camera)

The store moved to Lafayette in 2010, taking over the highly visible former Ace Hardware building on U.S. Highway 287 that sat vacant after Ace jumped ship in 2009.

That still left the city with two glaring, vacant big box sites on South Boulder Road -- the former homes of an Albertsons grocery store, which departed in 2002, and Walmart, which relocated to its Highway 287 location in 2007.

Last year, Flatirons Community Church filled both longtime big box store vacancies when it purchased, connected and renovated the Albertsons and Walmart sites, completing a move in April from Plaza Lafayette on the south side of South Boulder Road.

The big box domino effect only continued with the Flatirons move, as it left the 45,000-square-foot primary tenant space in Plaza Lafayette void. Longstanding talks of a move south to the site by Longmont-based Cheese Importers fizzled earlier this year when Cheese Importers expanded to Longmont instead.

Enter Jax once again.

The outdoor gear and farm store formally snatched up another Lafayette vacancy on late last month -- this time the former Flatirons Community Church site -- in preparation for expansion.

"From the day we opened, we knew we'd be operating without enough space," Jax owner Jim Quinlan said of his Highway 287 store.

Doubling footprint

The current Jax store is roughly 37,000 square feet. The new store will more than double Jax's Lafayette footprint.

"We're just so tight for space that we're not able to carry the breadth or depth of product to do it right," Quinlan said. "In Fort Collins, we have a farm store and an outdoor store. That's what we want to do in Lafayette. The new site will be the farm store, with feed, western wear -- which is something we're not able to do now -- a full line hardware store, paint, plumbing, electrical, power tools, lawn and garden.

"If people like us now, they're going to love us when we open that new site and can really do things right," Quinlan added.

Jax's existing Lafayette store will expand its outdoor recreation offerings in the areas of hunting, fishing and camping while adding an athletics department to include team sports gear. The "greenhouse" on the south side of the building will become the outdoor living area -- featuring patio furniture and grilling equipment. The current site will also retain Jax's gourmet cooking department.

The success of the current Lafayette store made expansion within the city an easy decision, Quinlan said.

"We've been consistently exceeding the plan for that site," Quinlan said. "The good thing is (the second store is) only two blocks away. That was appealing. We had looked at going over to Louisville, but this just made sense. And we love being in Lafayette. (City Administrator) Gary Klaphake has been great to work with."

The city extended a similar incentive package to Jax for its expansion as it did when it first moved into the Highway 287 location. The incentives include a 10-year deal with a 50-percent return on the city sales tax revenue it generates.

Lafayette has extended similar sales tax extensions to retailers like Walmart, King Soopers and Vitamin Cottage, which have since expired.

"We're really excited that they have decided to expand in Lafayette," city spokeswoman Debbie Wilmot said. "They've been very happy with their success in Lafayette and the business they've built here. It's a good location for them because they can attract both from Boulder, Longmont and the north metro area."

'Great thing for Lafayette'

Before the Plaza Lafayette site was home to Flatirons, the building housed County General -- a farm store similar to what Jax has planned.

"It's going back to its roots, I guess you could say," Quinlan said.

Quinlan said due to the conversion of the space by Flatirons for use as a church, it will take no small effort to repurpose it for retail again.

"There's a lot of work that needs to be done, like fixing the parking lot, upgrading facilities," Quinlan said. "There's a lot of things in a state of disrepair due to deferred maintenance."

Quinlan said existing tenants will remain in the building and he's seeking about a half-dozen more to fill the other vacancies.

"I think having that whole area turned around will be a great thing for Lafayette and we're looking forward to being a part of it," he said.

Jax employs around 45 people at its current Lafayette store. Quinlan said with the opening of the second Lafayette site, that number should go up to a combined total of 75 employees. Applications are currently being accepted online at jaxgoods.com.

Quinlan said he hopes to have the new store up and running by Thanksgiving of this year.

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